allsorts

Alphabets, pirates and other sources of stress

Today I browsed the Vintage Children's Books pool on Flickr for alphabet books and found some real cuties. This one has the cutest text and inside illustrations...

And this one is a Pirates Alphabet. I wonder what arrrrrr is for...

Ah, arrrrrr is apparently for ring-tail monkey...

Great artwork, clearly this one was much loved in it's day...

More graphic letters. These would make great drop caps...

And I must offer an apology (again... I seem to do this a lot) for the gap in posts. There's so much going on right now! We're planning a big remodeling project, to finally address all the things we've meant to do since we first moved in. It's exciting but of course I'm dreading the disruption. Not to mention that we're incorporating much of our storage into usable space, so I've got to get rid of a ton of stuff. But in the end I am hoping sure the result will be well worth it. The part that I'm the most excited and freaking out about is that my current studio will be converted into a library/office and I will have to move every little thing upstairs to my new studio space. And if you've seen a photo of my studio you will realize what a daunting undertaking that is going to be.

And on top of that I'm switching computers, and learning Photoshop CS5, and continuing to work on interactive books! It's enough to make me run screaming into the street, except it is 105 degrees out. I'm not crazy, you know. 

In light of my stress level, I could use some suggestions for some lovely relaxing escapist books to read! Any ideas? Something that takes place in England maybe? In fact any place cooler than here would be wonderful!

Cheers,

Jenny

Some modern pictorial alphabets

Here are a few fun and artsy alphabets available in poster form! If the one above is confusing, it's because it is a French alphabet. X, Y and Z still work, though... love the yeti! It is by Jeanne Audrey. And this is a kawaii-cute French alphabet poster from Bukubuku:

This sweet illustrative alphabet is available from Creative Thursday...

Graphic animals from Shop Ampersand...

A to Z of London from Porcupine Prints:

And one in Dutch from Graziela:

It never occurred to me that pictorial alphabets in other languages would be so different, and yet so similar. And of course it makes total sense now that I think of it. As they say... you learn something new every day!

Have a wonderful week, it's off to a great start!

Jenny

M is for Make yourself an M ~ or maybe another letter

Quick! Grab some wire, some fabric, and some odds and ends, and make yourself a super-cute initial! Isn't this a wonderfully simple idea? It's courtesy of Lauren and she's got a great how-to post on her blog. It's from a few years ago, but that's the beauty of blogs, great posts live on and on! As she points out, this would be a fantastic summer project to do with kids... it's free-form and creative.

I discovered this via pinterest... of course! Hope you have some fun things planned for the weekend... I'll be happy if I can just stay cool. It is entirely too hot here, and I am considering complaining to the management.

Cheers,

Jenny

Lovely letters in fabric and thread

Isn't this lovely? I just purchased Alicia's pattern for this from Rosy Little Things (still one of the best shop names ever). She's done this in crewel... and I have zero experience with crewel. Is it easier than traditional floss embroidery? I like that she worked this on a dark tone fabric, but I'm thinking mine will be on something a bit brighter. Alicia has a wonderful sense of color, but I don't have her ability to work in a subtle palette. As far back as I can remember I've gravitated toward bolder hues. Crayon colors, candy colors, the brighter the better! That's my happy zone.

Like these fabrics selected by Kristyne of Pretty by Hand. What will they become?

Laundry bags! She sews them as birthday gifts for her daughters' friends, each with the child's initial. How sweet and clever is that?

I asked her about the fabric, and she told me it is the new Flower Sugar line from Lecien, which is available here. Lecien is also responsible for another line of fabric called Happy Mochi Yum Yum by my pal Monica of Happy Zombie fame...

Now that's what I call candy color! Yum yum yum!

Cheers,

Jenny